Foreign Exchange
by lovelyverdigris
Summary: [HPWicked Crossover, Musicalverse] Elphie and the Shiz gang spend a month at Hogwarts. Transcends all notions of time. HP characters in 7th year, completely ignoring 5th and 6th. Wicked characters are 17, some time between Popular and I'm Not That Girl
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

Elphaba was bored out of her mind. Doctor Dillamond had some business to take care of outside of Shiz, and the substitute was just droning on…and on…and on… Galinda, on her left, was twirling a blonde lock around her finger and doodling in a notebook. Boq, on her right, was staring at Galinda, as usual. He really was quite tiring that way, and Elphaba just didn't understand what her sister saw in him. The only way she, Nessarose, couldn't have noticed is that either she was so besotted with love, which she probably was, or she was remarkably stupid, which Elphaba knew she wasn't. Elphaba began running through a mental list of assignments for the night. There wasn't much; a two-day-old essay on essence of biological intent, read pages 107-123 in the…Elphaba felt something pulling at the back of her head. She sighed; was Fiyero so bored he had to torture her? She twitched her head quickly and forcefully, and was rewarded with a small yelp from behind her. She silently thanked Galinda for insisting to put an ornament at the end of her braid that morning.

Suddenly, the bell rang. The whole class was roused out of their stupor. As one lazy entity, the class dripped its way out of the room. Elphaba shoved her closed notebook into her bag, stood up, and turned around. Galinda had pulled out a small hand mirror and was rearranging her curls, as Boq looked on, fascinated.

"You look _fine_, as usual," Elphaba said, "can we hurry up here?" She turned to Boq. "If you keep staring like that, your eyes might fall out of your head, in which case I would have to take them and give them to Nessa." Boq started and began stuffing papers randomly into his bag, trying to take his eyes off Galinda but failing miserably. Elphaba mentally smacked her forehead.

Finally, Galinda was satisfied with her appearance enough to pack up her books and leave.

"That was dreadfully boring," she gushed to Elphaba, "Master what's-his-name didn't know a _thing_ about what he was talking about."

"Believe me," Elphaba replied, "I know." Elphaba glanced over at the message board outside the classroom. Usually there was nothing on it of interest to her, but a large purple sign caught her eye.

"Wait a second," she said, and read aloud: "Important: all sorcery students report to the assembly hall at five PM sharp. Huh, wonder what that's about." She glanced at her watch. "Great, that gives us half an hour to eat, thanks to your dilly-dallying. Even less, since we have to go get Nessa."

"Nessa's taking sorcery?" Boq asked, "I thought she was a religious freak."

"Yes, I thought so too," Elphaba said, "until she started taking beginning sorcery. I suppose that's good for you, eh? Frees you of her for the evening?"

"No, that's not it at all," Boq replied, though he couldn't successfully mask all of his relief.

"Whatever," Elphaba said skeptically, and turned to Galinda. "Come on, let's go."

**---------**

It looked like Elphaba, Galinda, and Nessarose were going to be late. Nessa had taken a few minutes to copy the last bit of an assignment when Elphaba had gotten there. Then, right before they left for the assembly hall, Galinda decided she needed to fix her makeup, and Nessa realized she had left her notebook in her classroom, so Elphaba ran back to get it. They were running again; it seemed to Elphaba that she hadn't stopped moving for the past four or five minutes. Even with Elphaba wheeling Nessa's chair, Galinda was still falling behind.

"Elphie, wait up!" she called, tripping through the grass in her high heels.

"I can't," Elphaba called back, "we're going to be late!"

"Elphaba," Nessa said, "slow down, my head hurts." Nessa was gripping the arms of her wheelchair for dear life. The large wooden doors loomed ahead; Elphaba reasoned that the momentum she had built up would keep Nessa going, let go of her chair, and dashed ahead. Nessa screamed; Elphaba wrenched the door open, and the three girls clattered noisily into the back of the hall. Madame Morrible, who was up at the podium, stopped speaking and sent a fiery glare in their direction, then continued.

"As I was saying, before I was so _rudely interrupted_…" Elphaba and Galinda slid into the very last row, leaving Nessa in the aisle next to them, and listened.

"All of you have been taking sorcery for at least a month now," Madame Morrible said, "some of you even more. After visiting a dear old friend of mine, I have arranged for the sorcery students to stay a month at another great school of magic, called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is a wonderful educational and-_social_ opportunity for all of you. But remember, this will not be a free-for-all; you will be expected to take classes with the students there, and you will be sharing their dormitories. I expect you to all be on your _best behavior_, and that you won't cause any _trouble_." The last sentence, the whole hall knew, had been directed at Elphaba and Galinda. Elphaba smirked; she knew everything was her fault, and Galinda was just involved by association.

"Your train leaves tomorrow morning at nine o'clock _sharp_," Madame Morrible continued, "and further information has been sent up to your rooms. I suggest you go and start packing. You may all go, except the Thropp sisters, who are to come see me at once." The whole hall rose to leave. Elphaba pushed Nessa's chair against the current up to the front of the hall where Madame Morrible was waiting.

"I know you've probably heard this before," Madame Morrible said as they got into earshot, "But be careful. Nessa, take good care of your sister. Elphaba, please, at least _try_ to control yourself."

"Best behavior and all that jazz," Elphaba said, "right, got it."

"Your sarcasm is _not_ appreciated," Madame Morrible said, glaring up at Elphaba from behind her glasses.

"Sorry," said Elphaba, glancing down at her boots.

"Good, now go pack."

**---------**

It was a good thing it didn't take Elphaba too long to pack. Galinda had hung around at the back of the assembly hall, and walked back to the dorms with Elphaba. Nessa had stayed with Madame Morrible, which Elphaba was glad of, because she would only have one appearance-obsessed, frilly-dressing relation to deal with. Not that Nessa was an over-dresser like Galinda, she just had a lot of…_things_. Elphaba was perfectly happy to let Madame Morrible deal with that.

At the present moment, Elphaba was sitting on her dresser, suitcase fully packed and buried under all of Galinda's puffy skirts. It was already eight o'clock, and her roommate had packed one trunk. Shoes. Elphaba sighed.

"Galinda, at this rate, it's going to take all night," she complained, "just take whatever is the pinkest and frilliest, it'll look fine." Galinda stood up and pouted.

"Just because everything you wear is dark blue and black doesn't mean everyone should," she said, "and it's not _my_ fault I can't decide what to bring."

"Look," Elphaba said, brandishing a yellow sheet of paper with information about their trip, "It says they do laundry every week, so you only need to bring, what, a week and a half's worth of clothing? You've got enough clothing out to last an entire semester!"

"No I don't," Galinda said, quickly scanning the room, "I've only got thirty outfits out right now."

"Thirty, wow, that's a whole lot less. Just pack all of it, that way you can wear something different every day. I'm sure you've got enough trunks." Galinda brightened up.

"Hey, that's a good idea! Thanks." And she proceeded in dragging the four largest trunks she had into the middle of the room and stuffing all of her frills and flounces into them. "Okay, done."

"Did you pack any books?" Elphaba asked, "or any of the school stuff it says to bring?"

"No big," Galinda replied, and put the entire contents of her desk into another small suitcase.

Elphaba put her suitcase outside their door, and helped Galinda drag all of her things out. Then, she changed and slid into her bed, and Galinda followed suit.

"Sorry about that," Elphaba whispered across the room, "I'm just excited."

"S'okay," Galinda replied, "You know what? Me too."

**---------**

"Gah, why does Snape have to be so evil?" Ron Weasley complained loudly, "How could he have possibly known that we had huge amounts of homework in all other subjects?"

"Talent," said Harry Potter, "duh."

"Oh, be reasonable," Hermione Granger said, "It's not that bad-"

"You've got more subjects than either of us, blah blah blah. We know you're taking more classes than we are," Harry said, "But you don't have Quidditch practice all day on Sunday. Angelina's going crazy a month early."

"It's going to take me all weekend to get this done," Ron whined as they reached the great hall. The trio walked over to the Gryffindor table and set about eating. The ceiling was rapidly darkening, and when the sun had completely set, Professor Dumbledore stood up at the high table.

"Students," he began, "you will be pleased to find out that all weekend homework and activities have been cancelled-" The hall erupted in cheers. Professor Dumbledore raised a hand; silence fell, and he continued. "I have recently spoken to an old friend of mine, and for the month of October, Hogwarts is playing host to the sorcery students of Shiz University of Oz. The weekend is to be spent showing our guests around the grounds and familiarizing them with the school and its students. This is a wonderful opportunity for them as well as for you to learn about other branches of magic, how they are studied, and who studies them. I expect every one of you to make our guests feel at home. They will be arriving tomorrow afternoon around lunchtime. Take this time to mentally prepare yourselves. Thank you." Professor Dumbledore sat down.

"Well," Ron said, brightening, "that's a convenient turn of events," and returned to lining peppermint humbugs around the edge of his plate. Hermione, however, looked thoughtful.

"Call me crazy," she said to Harry, "but did he say Shiz University of _Oz_?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "I was wondering about that."

"What's wrong with Oz?" Ron asked, "Mum and dad went there on their honeymoon, or so they said." Hermione sighed.

"Oz," she said, "is a fairy country in an old children's book. A very good series, as it happens, but that's beside the point."

"Is it now?"

"Well," said Harry, "I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see."

**---------**

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this, it's my first attempt at writing with Wicked characters, and with the Trio (I usually write the Marauders). Much love to my beta-readers, Raida and Abby.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still not JK Rowling, L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Winnie Holzman, or Stephan Schwartz 

"Why are you constantly making me _late?_" Elphaba complained loudly, watching Galinda try to lace the back of her corset. It was twenty to nine. Elphaba had awoken at six that morning, as per usual, dressed, and written a letter to her father, explaining what was happening, all without waking Galinda. At eight, she had finally got fed up and tried to drag, literally, Galinda out of bed. There had been much shouting, and Elphaba knew she would probably have a black eye the next day. Finally, Galinda got out of bed by her own free will, and set about fixing her hair, which took another ten minutes. At the moment, Galinda was wearing a short, semi-puffy petticoat, and was still trying to lace her corset.

"You try doing this by yourself," Galinda said derisively, tossing her curls over her shoulder. Elphaba sighed.

"Let me help you with that," she said. Galinda braced herself against one of the bedpost, and Elphaba pulled viciously on the laces. There was a sharp intake of breath from Galinda, and Elphaba tied the lace in a neat bow. Galinda was now adjusting her breathing, and fixing her curls yet again.

"Honestly," Elphaba said, "I don't know how you can wear that thing."

"You didn't have to pull so _hard_," Galinda said, her voice breathy, "I can barely feel my stomach." She exhaled again, and slipped on the white skirt suit she had laid. She slid her feet into coordinating white shoes, grabbed her handbag, and followed Elphaba out of the room.

Halfway down the hall, Elphaba stopped.

"Wait a second," She said quickly, turned on her heel, and dashed down the hall to the room. A few seconds later, she came dashing back out, her peaked black hat clutched to her chest. Elphaba was at a full run; down the hall, grabbing Galinda's wrist as she passed, talking quickly.

"We'll make it down their in ten minutes, if we run." Elphaba and Galinda ran down four flights of stairs, and out of the dorm. Neither of them noticed the nip of the early October air. They slipped and slid as they ran across the dewy grass of the quad, and across the campus.

It slowly started to rain. At the first drops, Elphaba broke into an all-out sprint, reaching the protection of the awning of the train station before it became too painful. By the time Galinda reached the station, she was soaking wet and was shrieking about her hair. Elphaba looked at her watch; 8:55. Thunder boomed overhead.

"Why do we always have to cut it so damn _close_," she exclaimed. A large red steam engine sat on the tracks, smoke rolling lazily around it. The air was warm and dry. Elphaba looked out at the rain for a few moments, and then turned to Galinda.

"Come on, let's go," she said, and strode over to one of the train doors, with Galinda following, still desperately trying to wring out her hair. The pair quickly walked through the train, looking into compartments on either side. The majority were full, but near the end they found one that was empty. Well, almost.

They stepped into the compartment and shut the door when they heard a voice from behind them.

"Ladies! How nice of you to join me," said a voice from behind them. Elphaba and Galinda whipped around; it was Fiyero, who was stretched out lazily on one of the benches. Galinda crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fiyero, you needn't have scared us like that," she said with a pout.

"Aw, but you forgive me, right?"

"Of course I do," Galinda said, smiling. Fiyero grabbed her wrist and pulled her down next to him. Galinda lost her balance and fell on top of him. Elphaba watched her laughing friends for a moment, and then walked over and decidedly sat on Galinda's stomach.

"What," she said when they looked at her, "I can't let you have all the fun, can I?" And they all collapsed into gales of laughter. Suddenly, the compartment door opened.

"Elphaba!" Elphaba jumped to her feet. Galinda and Fiyero stopped laughing and sat up.

"Well, I never…" gasped Madame Morrible from behind Nessa's chair. Once everyone had gained their composure, Madame Morrible spoke again.

"Well, I'm glad you two are on time _for once_," she said pointedly to Elphaba and Galinda, "I suppose I'll just leave Miss Nessarose with you for now, let you get back to your _cavorting_." Then she muttered something that sounded like "Blasted kids…" and left. At the slam of the compartment door, Elphaba, Galinda, and Fiyero burst out laughing again. Even Nessa giggled a little. Elphaba finally sat down on the seat across from Fiyero and Galinda, who were sitting side by side now.

"I suppose this is just another chance for you two to snog out of the reach of the watchful eye of Madame Morrible," Elphaba said, pulling a notebook and pen out of her bag. Galinda made some sounds of indignation; Fiyero just smiled.

---

Rain was hammering down in sheets on the thick glass windows of the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry and Ron were engaged in a game of chess, with Ron winning, as usual. Hermione, utterly bored for lack of homework, was curled up on a sofa in front of the fire with a large leather-bound volume open in her lap. There were other Gryffindors scattered around the common room, similarly engaged, trying to enjoy their freedom despite the terrible weather.

"Knight to E6," Harry said. When the piece crossed its arms stubbornly and refused to move, Harry prodded it with his wand. "Go on, you." He turned to Ron. "I don't see the point of playing chess if none of the pieces will listen to me."

"Do you want me to talk to them again?" Ron asked, pulling out his own wand, "I've made them listen to people before. Besides, I don't see why they'll listen to Percy and not you. He's such a git."

"Are you finished yet?" shouted Ron's queen, "Are we going to continue playing?"

"Yeah, we're finished," Ron said, "and no, we're not going to continue playing." He swiped his arm across the board, knocking all the pieces over, and swept them into their box. Loud protests could be heard as the lid of the box was replaced. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"So," Harry said, "what do you want to do now?" Ron shrugged.

"We could, uh, read…" The two boys glanced at Hermione.

"Nah."

A large booming ring was heard through the thunder. People looked up from their previous occupations and began packing things away. Hermione looked up from her book in surprise.

"Put your chess game away," she said, "We have to be down to lunch on time in order to greet our visitors." The trio had had some discussion on the topic the night before; Harry and Hermione were still slightly skeptical about meeting inhabitants of a fairy country from some old children's books, and Ron thought they were both crazy. Nobody else seemed to have any qualms about it. The common room was slowly emptying. Ron grabbed the chess box and dashed upstairs with it. He reappeared a moment later, and the trio followed the rest of their house through the portrait hole and down to the great hall.

---

"Lovely," Elphaba said sarcastically as she watched the rain beat down on the carriage window. The train trip had been unusually uneventful, with Nessa reading, Elphaba scratching away in her notebook, and Galinda and Fiyero being uncharacteristically quiet. Suddenly, there was a crackling in the air, and Madame Morrible's voice sounded throughout the train.

"We are approaching our destination," the voice said, "Please gather all of your personal belongings. Thank you." Elphaba snapped her notebook shut and slipped it in her bag. The thoughtful silence remained as the train slowed and stopped, and everyone crowded into the narrow corridor down the center of the train. When Elphaba reached the door, she hopped down quickly, sidestepped a puddle, and dashed under the overhanging awning. She was joined by Galinda; Fiyero, it seemed, had been lost in the crowd. Finally, Madame Morrible appeared with Nessa and called everyone to order.

"One last note," Madame Morrible shouted, making herself heard over the rain and her students' nervous chatter, "Again, everyone on their best behavior. And _don't get into trouble_. Now, everyone, follow me." Madame Morrible led the group to the far end of the station, to a waiting fleet of small horseless carriages. Elphaba and Galinda pushed through the crowd and grabbed one of the ones closest to the station, avoiding as much rain as possible. When all the carriages were full, the little fleet set off across the soaking grounds.

"I bet it's not as big or as old as Shiz," Galinda said, examining her nails, "I mean, Shiz is pretty big, and pretty darn old. Even some of the castles out in the Vinkus where Fiyero comes from probably aren't as old as Shiz."

"Whatever," Elphaba said, looking out of the carriage window. To the left of the legion of carriages was a large lake, rippling with the rain, and to the right, a large, dark forest. Elphaba glanced out the front and did a double take.

"Uh, Galinda," she said, pointing, "I think you're wrong." Galinda looked. There was no doubt about it, the castle ahead of them was definitely bigger and older than Shiz.

"Woooooow," Galinda said, impressed, "that place has it all-big AND old." The carriages stopped under a large overhang, and the occupants, not wanting to get wet, ran under it and up through the large double doors.

---

"Good afternoon," Professor Dumbledore said from the top of the hall, "I'm glad to see you all here. I'll try to make this brief, as our guests are waiting in the entrance hall as we speak. I expect you all to remember what I said yesterday; be courteous-though they come from afar, these students are your peers. Treat them with the respect you would treat your classmates. And, since the last time we had foreign guests, Ravenclaw and Slytherin kindly loaned them use of their dormitories, I do believe it is Gryffindor's turn to be hosts. And now, without further ado…" he gestured to the back of the hall, and the large doors opened. The foreign students streamed down the center aisle, up towards the top of the hall.

"Why do _we_ have to share our dormitories?" Ron said in a sulky tone, "It could have just as easily been Hufflepuff, but Dumbledore _had_ to chose us-" Suddenly, Ron caught sight of an elegant girl in a white skirt suit, with perfect blonde curls, among the throng. "Scratch that," he said, "They can share our dormitories any time they like…" Hermione sighed, and muttered something that sounded like, "Boys…"

Harry followed Ron's gaze, but wasn't interested in the blonde girl so much as the girl who she seemed to be talking to. She seemed about as far in appearance from the blonde girl as it was possible to be; she was dressed in what seemed to be a standard-issue dark blue pleated skirt and jacket and combat boots, her dark hair plaited austerely down her back, and wearing a pointed black hat. And, if Harry was not mistaken…

"Good heavens," Hermione exclaimed quietly, "Is that girl green?"

"What?" said Ron, his eyes still fixated on the green girl's companion, completely oblivious.

"Yes, I was wondering about that, too," Harry said, "You don't think she could be…"

"The Witch?" Hermione asked, "We'll have to see. Though I don't see why the Wicked Witch of the West would be taking sorcery classes at a university. And besides, Margaret Hamilton looked a good deal older in the movie."

"She's a lot prettier than Margaret Hamilton…" Harry heard himself say. Hermione shook her head again as Dumbledore rose to speak, accompanied by a very strange figure indeed.

"Students," Professor Dumbledore said, "I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine, as well as headmistress of Shiz University: Madame Morrible." The little woman beside him was a striking figure; she was dressed quite formally, if a bit fantastically, her graying hair arranged in a mound of curls on top of her head, and her face covered in what was probably layers of make-up. She stepped up to the podium.

"Greetings from Oz," Madame Morrible said, "I'll try to make this brief, as I must return to Shiz as soon as possible. This should be an interesting educational experience to all of you, so take advantage of it. And most importantly, have fun! Now, go mingle." She stepped down. The Shiz students gravitated toward the Gryffindor table, walking up and down, looking for empty spaces. Ron violently shoved over to make room as the blonde girl and her friend approached. His efforts were rewarded when she exclaimed, "Oh, look! Seats!" and dragged her friend over. Before Harry realized what was happening, Harry found himself next to the green girl. He stared in surprise.

"What are you looking at?" she said, looking Harry straight in the eye.

"Er-nothing…" He replied awkwardly.

"You mustn't be so cross, Elphie," the blonde girl said reproachfully, "You're out of the rain now…Oh, I'm Galinda, by the way," she said, "Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands."

"Ron Weasley," Ron said, still dazed, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Harry Potter," Harry said, mostly to the green girl, trying admirably not to stare.

"Elphaba Thropp," she said, a bit less cross. It took Harry a moment to realize that this was the first time in a long time that he had introduced himself without anyone staring at his forehead and squealing, "You're _Harry Potter?_" He knew how Elphaba must feel; he could hide his scar under his bangs, but there was no way she could disguise her verdant skin. Galinda was chattering on her other side.

"We must find Fiyero," she was saying, "He seems to have slipped away." Ron winced slightly at this. He opened his mouth to say something when the gilded plates and goblets filled instantaneously as they always did. "Oh good," Galinda said, "I'm famished."

But despite this, she did nothing but chatter the entire time. There was very little other conversation as Galinda ranted on in her perky little voice, mostly to Elphaba, who was staring down at her plate. Neither of them noticed as Ron stared at Galinda, completely enticed by her talking, his eyes fixed on her perfect blonde curls. Nor did either of them notice that Harry, who was also looking at his plate, snuck several glances at Elphaba, not able to get over the fact that he was sitting next to a girl with green skin and might, in fact, be who he knew as the Wicked Witch of the West.

---

A/N: Sorry about the awkwardness at the end of this chapter, and that it took two months to get up here. But you've got to imagine what it's like to be meeting someone who may or may not grow up to be your society's icon of wickedness. Or even just meeting someone who's green. Yeah. No betas for this chapter, but love to the Marauders, as always, and Nandi, who just keeps bugging me about mentioning her at the end of a chapter. 


End file.
